SALES OF HIGH-END HOMES SURGE IN STATE

Million-dollar home sales in California are at their highest level in nearly five years and have outpaced overall home transactions, DataQuick reported Thursday.

The La Jolla-based company said the second-quarter surge in the higher-end market has been the result of some appreciation in prices and an improving economy.

Across the state, 7,763 properties sold for $1 million or more from April to June — up 79.5 percent from the first quarter, when 4,325 were sold, and up 18.5 percent from the 6,553 homes sold in same quarter of 2011.

The million-dollar market appears to be faring better than the overall market. Sales of properties at all price points in the state increased 10.3 percent in the second quarter over last year’s second quarter (109,713 to 121,058).

The median amount that buyers paid for a square foot of a million-dollar-or-more property was $632 in the second quarter. That’s up 2 percent from $619 a year ago.

Statewide, La Jolla ranked eighth in million-dollar homes sales, the DataQuick report stated. There were 98 such transactions in the 2012 second quarter, up 27 percent from 77 in the second quarter of 2011. The priciest home recorded in that area last quarter was sold at $7.05 million.

Hillsborough, which is in the Bay Area, topped the list with 134 home sales in the second quarter. Another San Diego County ZIP code made the list: Del Mar, at No. 16.

“This market always responds to its own set of incentives,” said DataQuick President John Walsh in the report.

“Most homebuyers agonize about income, down payments and mortgage interest rates. And while there may be some of that in the prestige market, buyers there also watch what kind of returns their assets are bringing from investments and savings. If your money is parked in a savings account or something else that is low-risk, you’re not making much, and real property might look good.”